Prosocial Behaviors

Abstract

Prosocial behaviors contribute to the well-being of others following activities like charitable giving or volunteering. Theories that explain prosocial behaviors are pure altruism and impure altruism, inequality aversion reciprocity and conditional cooperation. These theories are linked to a system of motivations, that is intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and image motivation. Social norms play a key part in oneâ€™ s motivations to behave prosocially, in particular with regard to image motivation and likely sanctions when oneâ€™s deviates from these norms. The expressive power of law leads to norms legitimacy. Prosocial behaviors are mainly studied in the literature in economics and psychology, especially in behavioral and experimental economics.